Проигрыватели виниловых дисков — European Audio Team (EAT) F-Dur

The F-Dur is a belt-driven turntable from European Audio Team (EAT), the company founded by Jozefina Lichtenegger that began making turntables in 2009 with the Forte. Its price lands mid-way through the EAT turntable catalogue and borrows much from the similar-looking and slightly more expensive Forte S. Design work is done in Austria and each deck is hand built in the Czech Republic. US pricing was USD 5,999 without an arm, USD 8,499 with the C-Note arm and USD 11,499 with the F-Note, and the UK package with the 12-inch F-Note was GBP 7,899.

Key specs that matter

Two AC motors each drive the platter through their own belt, and speed changes between 33 and 45 rpm electronically. EAT quotes speed variance below 0.09 percent, wow and flutter below 0.01 percent and a 73 dB signal to noise ratio. The platter is an oversized 13.5-inch disc of heavy CNC machined aluminium. The deck measures 550 mm wide, 250 mm high and 440 mm deep and weighs 44 kg. Satin black is the standard finish, with a polished aluminium platter available as an option.

Engineering and use context

The motors were picked from batches of more than 100,000 units, and their supply comes from a precision DC-driven generator that produces the AC signal. As standard this runs from a 15 V wall adapter, while the optional LPS 2 linear supply, sold in the UK for GBP 1,300, converts mains to 15 V DC and then back to a stable AC feed. The belts are a new design with carbon fibres mixed in, which makes them conductive so static charge cannot build up, and they are made as closed rings with no glued joint. A ring of thermoplastic elastomer inside the platter absorbs resonances. The main bearing is inverted and magnetically supported - opposing magnets carry roughly 30 percent of the platter mass, leaving the rest on a precision ceramic ball, which lowers friction at the contact point. The plinth is solid MDF 50 mm thick with no hollow spaces. Heavy solid aluminium feet, placed at the outer edges of the plinth, can be adjusted in height without steps and have TPE damping built in.

Pairing

The F-Dur is offered with either the gimbal-bearing F-Note or the cheaper C-Note hybrid arm, both 12-inch designs with an 18 degree offset angle. With the F-Note the deck takes cartridges weighing from 5 g to 15 g, and its tool-free VTA, tracking force and azimuth adjustment with a laser guide suits owners who change cartridges. A phono stage matched to the chosen cartridge, such as one of the E-Glo units from the same maker, completes the source.

Alternatives

The EAT Forte S is the closely related turntable one step higher in price, sharing much of the F-Dur construction in a similar-looking body.